Building Brand Loyalty – Are You Targeting the RIGHT Consumer?

One of the biggest issues that retailers face, especially in today’s mobilizing marketplace, it building brand loyalty and retaining loyal customers.  After all, if a customer can find a better deal, or doesn’t feel as though their needs are being met, they will quickly switch to one of your competitors. In this blog we offer our top 3 steps to building and ensuring brand loyalty. The market is changing constantly, so you need to be focussed on continually updating your strategies.

3 steps to building brand loyalty:

Step 1: Make sure that you are targeting the right consumers. A major hurdle in the Canadian CPG industry is dealing with the generational gap. All consumers are not the same – their wants and needs differ greatly – so if you treat them all the same none of them will be completely satisfied. Instead, you need to cater to the differences. Younger generations are often more receptive to experiential marketing or digital marketing, whereas older generations are often more responsive to coupons and promotions. Don’t ever discount one for the other.

Step 2: Make sure that these consumers are engaged. This can be accomplished a number of different ways (and can be used to market to ALL consumers). Firstly, make sure that customers are receiving the right support (re: finding items that are not on the shelf) and answers to their questions. Secondly, employ an experiential marketing campaign to attract attention, especially when promoting a new product. These things will help establish an emotional connection with your brand. These tactics will also help with brand recognition and boost sales.

Step 3: Make sure that these consumers are experiencing a high level of customer service. Brand loyalty is built upon a foundation of solid customer experience, so if your customers leave your store unsatisfied with the level of service they have received, chances are pretty good that they won’t be returning for seconds. Don’t let long line ups or idle employees cause a decrease in customer experience levels.

A great tactic to adopt when facing stagnant levels of brand loyalty is to leverage the services of a merchandising company to garner a boost. By employing their methods for success, an experienced merchandising company can examine problem areas, suggest changes that will have big impacts, and implement the adjustments smoothly.

For more information about building brand loyalty, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit us online at www.storesupport.ca.

Online vs. Bricks and Mortar – Visual Merchandising Plan to Battle Competition

It is common knowledge in the retail industry that online shopping is a major competitor for bricks and mortar stores. The ability to price compare and buy online has steadily risen in popularity over the last few years, to the point that many retailers have felt the need to compete through the development and establishment of their own online stores. However, it seems as though the competition is not as stiff as originally predicted – and the expectation that online shopping would lead to the inevitable death of the retail location have not panned out. Canadian customers are still shopping at bricks and mortar locations.

According to research done by global information company The NPD Group, only 4% of all Canadian transactions were made online in 2012 – and this is an increase of 0.5% from 2011. Broken down, NPD reported that approximately 7 online purchases were made by the average Canadian household in 2012, compared to over 150 trips to traditional bricks and mortar stores (3-4 visits per week).

There are many reasons for this staunch refusal by consumers to let online shopping dictate the market – the most important reason being the experience that cannot be had by shopping online. Recognizing this, retailers have started to realize the importance that lies in visual merchandising and how it has to change in order to continue to compete.

As a bricks and mortar store, having a visual merchandising plan in place is crucial to maintain the leverage over online retailers. Consumers like to be able to enter a retail location and visually take in what they cannot over the internet. This includes things like planograms, signage and displays – all of which need to be executed properly (one of the main functions of a merchandising company) to attract customers.

Other factors contribute as well, including a high level of customer experience and interaction – so make sure that when customers leave your store they feel satisfied. This will help safeguard customer loyalty and retention.

Although online shopping has not killed the bricks and mortar store it has resulted in the need to evolve and adapt.  A strong visual merchandising plan is essential in this adaptation, and so make sure that you employ a merchandising company to help ensure that the online competition that does exist does not take over.

For more information about how to ramp up your visual merchandising plan to further battle the competition of online retailers, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081.

How Canadian Merchandising Companies Can Solve Your Customer Experience Woes

Customer experience is a complex entity, summed up by the total interaction a client has with your brand. This can include any form of marketing (print/media advertising) and customer service in-store and online. A focus on customer experience needs to play a major role in any company’s (both retailers and brands) plan for success.

Don’t just take our word for it. A recent Business Insider article looked at one of the most profitable companies worldwide, examining why it continues to make a profit year in and year out. The conclusion: a long term focus on customer experience has led to a strong brand reputation and exceptional customer loyalty, and this has equaled major annual profits.

The articles states: “building the desired customer experience requires tools such as (but not limited to) research, operations, brand management, marketing and employee engagement.” You cannot exchange one for the other – you need to maintain a high level with each aspect of the equation.

How can merchandising companies help you raise the bar for customer experience? In various ways. 

Brands: Think about brand management. What approach do you take to ensuring your brand is perceived well? If you are too focused on short term, the long term will suffer. And how can you determine what this perception is? Merchandising companies can help you best understand the customer experience through tools such as mystery shopping (to better gauge the level of a retailer’s employee engagement and knowledge) or quality assurance audits.

Retailers: Employees play a big part in this production. When a customer enters your store, they should feel as though their business is appreciated. We are not suggesting you speak to each person individually, but if a customer has questions about a product or can’t find a product, your employees should be there to offer assistance. In peak seasons, the level of customer experience can be impacted negatively by this, and so merchandising companies can help you maintain high levels of customer satisfaction by providing highly-trained, experienced people support to fill in the gaps.

When you look towards the future of your company, it should be with a long term lens – and the best way to achieve the goals you establish in the process is with an ironclad customer experience policy and by taking advantage of the services of a well-reputed and experienced merchandising company.

For more information about how merchandising companies can assist you with a powerful, long term customer experience plan, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-amazon-is-one-of-the-most-successful-companies-in-the-world-2012-12

Bridging the Marketing Gap: Retail Merchandising in an Ever-Changing Marketplace

Last week we talked about how important it is with the rise of mobile e-commerce to ramp up your retail merchandising campaigns to deal with the competition this creates. The rise of mobile e-commerce is just one example of how vital it is to leverage different types of merchandising to attract different customers.  

Here are just a few examples of this cross-sectional marketing and how a retail merchandising company can help you maintain it.

How you merchandise:

Print: displays, planograms, etc. These are one of the most important parts of any merchandising plan. When a consumer enters a store, the displays and planograms often play the largest role in attracting their attention. Whether you rely on stand-up display shelves, floor decals or shelving signs as a segment of your retail merchandising plan, these need to be carried out and maintained appropriately. A retail merchandising company can not only set them up according to your designs, they will also return to make sure that they are being used properly.

Coupons and promotions: Many consumers are attracted to coupons and promotions – so making use of them is key. This is especially crucial when releasing a new product. You need to leverage this type of retail merchandising in order to attract this crowd. Again, a retail merchandising company can help by providing people support to distribute coupons or ensure that coupon dispensers are installed correctly.

Interactive: experiential marketing. Another effective retail marketing strategy is through taste tests or product trials. Research shows that those consumers who are given the chance to sample a product are more inclined to purchase. By leveraging and implementing an experiential marketing campaign you can harness the power inherent in this consumer group.

Who you merchandise to:

Generational gaps and catering too much to one generational group while largely ignoring the other can wreak havoc in the retail industry. For example, if you rely solely on mobile marketing you are ignoring the entire generation that this does not tailor to. Conversely, if you are just using print marketing, those consumers who see mobile or computerized displays as the way of the future may be lost.

When you set out to design your retail merchandising plan, make sure that all bases are covered. Don’t discount one group for another. Employ a retail merchandising company to guarantee that all targets are marketed to.

For more information about how to ensure that your retail merchandising strategy encompasses a variety of different marketing schemes please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081.

Effects of Mobile E-Commerce on Retailers - E-Commerce Report from Canadian Government Sheds Light

In 2012, as a result of the dramatic changes that Canadian society has experienced as a result of technological changes over the past several years, the government conducted research on e-commerce as an industry. Called E-Commerce in Canada: Pursuing the Promise, Report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, this report shed a great deal of light on the impacts of e-commerce and mobile e-commerce on retailers.  

According to the report, 79% of Canadian households have internet access, and of this 79%, 74% use the internet to browse or shop for goods or services online.  In 2010 alone, online purchases resulted in $15.8 billion in sales. The online market is booming – but how is it affecting your business?

Now, more than ever, Canadians are coming to rely on their smartphones for far more than just talking and texting – realistically most of what can be done from a laptop in the home office can be accomplished anywhere from a mobile device. This on-the-spot purchasing power that mobile e-commerce represents is great for consumers, but not so good for retailers trying to deal with the competition.

So how can you handle the impacts of mobile e-commerce? It is simple. Sure you may not be able to offer the same convenience that comes from the ability to give consumers what they want at the tap of a finger, but by working with a retail merchandising company you can keep those consumers in the store and maintain sales.

Where grocery stores are concerned – a great deal of shoppers do their shopping in store. If you offer CPG brands that are sold in a grocery store then your customer’s in-store experience is key, especially if you want to keep them coming back to buy more.

Think about it, when a consumer makes a purchase online, generally as far as they can see the product is available, clearly priced, they expedite payment and then their product is delivered. Customers must have the same experience when they visit a retailer to purchase your product. Product should be in stock, clearly priced and where it is supposed to be according to your planogram.  

Experiential marketing and promotional campaigns are also a great way to manage the mobile e-commerce rivalry. Once you get consumers through the door an intelligent way to influence their purchases is to make suggestions through campaigns that offer sales or give them a chance to try.

A great way to manage your retail merchandising and have boots on the ground, without the cost of a huge team, is to work with a retail merchandising company who has the coverage and expertise to support your needs at a fraction of the cost of having a front line workforce.

For many retailers, e-commerce represents a huge market for sales – as long as you are using it to sell. If you are not, you need to be looking at other methods to deal with this competition.

For more information about how to handle the competition created by mobile e-commerce, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit us online at www.storesupport.ca.

People Support During Busy Back-to-School Season: Merchandising Companies Have You Covered

Retailers get ready! September is almost upon us and with it comes the back-to-school shopping blitz. Children heading back to the classroom all need the newest duds and gadgets – so make sure that they are coming to you for them – and leaving your store satisfied.

During the back-to-school craze, retail merchandising is crucial, and you need to be ready. Having sales clearly marked and shelves stocked is important – but these are not the only things that will make this shopping season profitable.

One of the hardest things for retailers with regard to back-to-school shopping is the crowds. As soon as the calendar hits August, most parents get their lists together and head out to prep for September. This requires a delicate balance for retailers. You need to make sure that you have enough people on the floor to cover this extra volume, both in departments to offer assistance, at the cash registers to prevent long line-ups, and in the stock room making sure that shelves and racks do not go empty, leading to lost sales. That being said, you don’t want to have to go through the process of hiring a new group of temporary employees just to cover this one month. And even though you may not be planning on retaining these employees after back-to-school shopping is over, they still need to be trained - and training costs time and money.

A retail merchandising company that offers people support is the best way to handle this demand. Instead of having to go through the entire hiring and training process, a merchandising company can provide you with experienced, professional, well-trained individuals to fill any positions necessary: cashiers, sales associates, floor staff, or employees to stock. This takes care of all of the hiring costs and training resources that you would need to spend to do it on your own. Additionally, since these employees are contracted on a temporary basis, once their assistance and support is no longer needed you don’t have to go through the messy and costly process of letting them go.

Don’t wait until the week before to devise a plan for back-to-school shopping – after all most stores have had ads promoting sales out for weeks already – and it is only July! Get going on your back-to-school shopping retail plan now to ensure that it is implemented correctly thus achieving the biggest returns. Don’t get lost in the shuffle; make sure that you have enough people – and the right people – there to support you.

For more information about a retail merchandising plan which includes people support for back-to-school shopping please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit us online at www.storesupport.ca

Ernst and Young Back-to-School Shopping Study – Retailers Get Ready

According to an Ernst and Young study of last year’s back-to-school shopping season, Canadians were heading out far earlier to start their shopping, following the lead of our neighbours to the south. If this year is anything like last year, most shoppers will not be waiting until the week before to get those school supplies. The annual back-to-school shopping season can mean big ROI for retailers, and Canadian merchandising companies can make all the difference.

Here are our top 3 reasons why retailers need to make sure their back-to-school retail plan is ironclad, and how merchandising companies can help.

1.      Back-to-school shopping is highly lucrative. The back-to-school shopping season offer retailers the biggest sales aside from holiday shopping in December. Need some numbers? Statistics Canada reported $123.6 million was spent on school supplies in 2012, and the overall average education expenditure for all households in Canada was $1151. No matter what is being sold, recognizing that the opportunity is there is crucial. Knowing this, a smart plan is to rely on a merchandising company to ensure that your retail merchandising plan is effective.

 

2.      Kids are shopping too and you need to market to them. Parents often shop with their kids for those items to take back to the classroom, so you need to be sure to cater to their wants – they heavily influence the purchases made by their parents. A great way to do this is through an experiential marketing campaign. Kids love to try new things – and what better way to get them interested in a product than by trying it. For example, with parents out there filling their cart with back-to-school lunch items, kids can work for you. Get a merchandising company to develop an experiential marketing campaign with this in mind (lunch snacks for example) and the marketing is easy.

 

3.      Discount stores are getting a big share of the profits. Keeping in mind the amount of money most families spend on back-to-school shopping, many parents are opting for the sales that discount stores offer, so you have to be able to compete. Sales and promotions play a big role (and merchandising companies can help with this), but so too does customer service. Many consumers will remain loyal if a company offers excellent service. Merchandising companies can provide the necessary people support at this busy time to ensure that your customer service levels remain high.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of back-to-school shopping. Let Canadian merchandising companies assist in your retail merchandising planning. And don’t wait until the last minute – if this year is anything like last year, those sales will start rolling in very soon.

For more information about how merchandising companies can help you implement a smart merchandising plan for back-to-school shopping please contact Storesupport at 1-877-421-5081.